Scripture on the Steps: DC Bible Reading and True Revival

Host: Dr. Isaac Crockett

Guest: Dave Kistler

Note: This transcript is taken from a Stand in the Gap Today program aired on 3/20/26. To listen to the podcast, click HERE.

Disclaimer: While reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate transcription, the following is a representation of a mechanical transcription and as such, may not be a word for word transcript. Please listen to the audio version for any questions concerning the following dialogue.

Isaac Crockett:

Welcome to our Friday program of Stand in the Gap Today. I’m Pastor Isaac Crockett. And joining me today is evangelist Dr. Dave Kistler, a very familiar voice to many of you. And Dave, I know that you have a lot going on and you’re kind of always in the middle of coming and going as an evangelist, especially in these days very busy evangelists. But thank you so much for taking the time to come on the program again. And I’m looking forward to this, but just thank you so much for being on the program.

Dave Kistler:

Well, I think I love Standing the Gap today and I love you, love Sam, and so thankful for the ministry of Standing the Gap today and what it’s doing and accomplishing around the globe. But it’s an honor and delight to be here.

Isaac Crockett:

Well, I always love getting the chance to talk with other co-hosts from the program. And to do the interview with you, you’re so used to interviewing people and so good at that, but there’s so much happening right now at Hope Ministries International. I guess that’s what we want to get into. You just have so many different ministries all connected to what you’re doing. And it’s not just you, but the Lord has used you and these other ministries to really spearhead a lot of exciting things in these days. But I want to talk about this upcoming Bible, reading marathon that you’re a big part of. We’re calling our program today Scripture on the Steps and looking at DC Bible reading and then True Revival. But before we get into all that, Dave, just a little bit of background again, and I know some of our listeners know you very well, have maybe even had you in their church or in their homes, but for some, maybe they’re listening for the first time or they’re new to the program, or even those of us who are longtime listeners.

Could you maybe just remind us, give us a brief overview of one of the ministries that you started, Hope to the Hill Ministry, how it works with civil leaders and others, and how it ties into your broader evangelistic work that the Lord has called you to.

Dave Kistler:

Well, thank you, Isaac. Yeah, it’s an honor to share that with you. 41 years ago, the Lord, I went into full-time evangelism and Hope Ministries International has been the umbrella under which all of our ministries have fallen, but there’s a number of things underneath that bigger umbrella called Hope Ministries International. And one of them is the DC arm or the DC component, and it is called Hope to the Hill as in Capitol Hill. And it was actually started probably two decades ago, 21 years ago. It started out small. And when I say small, I mean, I would take pastors to Washington DC. We’d go by, we’d meet with members of Congress, pray with them, pray with their staff. It became very quickly, glaringly obvious to me we needed somebody up there full-time. And about 11, 12 years ago, the Lord allowed our son, Nathan, to go up to Capitol Hill, become our full-time director, which he did for just over a decade.

And then many of the listeners will know that July 26th, 2024, our son, our daughter-in-law and five other incredible people lost their lives in a plane crash along the border of Montana and Wyoming. But the ministry hoped to the Hill is continuing. It sure went to another level under Nathan’s leadership, but it’s just us going in and ministering both sides of the aisle. Both sides of the aisle, whether it’s Democrat, Republican, independent, it makes no difference. We go in, we ask, how can we serve you? How can we pray for you? And the questions you get, Isaac, are amazing at times. And the advice and the way you can pour into the lives of these members of Congress and others on Capitol Hill is astounding. We do have another full-time staff member, Dr. George Roller, who for 16 years worked with Dr. D. James Kennedy’s ministry.

And about 13 years ago, give or take, he came on board with us. It’s been a wonderful, wonderful marriage with him being the ambassador for Hope Ministries International. And he is now our interim director until the Lord allows us to install a full-time director. We think we do have that person lined up, but just have not introduced them as the full-time director. But it’s a wonderful opportunity to pour into the lives of those whose decisions shape not only our nation, but literally the world.

Isaac Crockett:

Well, okay, that’s a very interesting segue because you just said it shapes our nation, but also the world. And that’s what’s also interesting, 41 years in your evangelistic ministry. And we’re going to be talking a lot about our nation today. This is a ministry of the American Pastors Network, but something God has been doing is using our nation as a city on a hill for a long time. And so we are seeing even our radio ministry and things growing into other countries, but you’ve been growing your ministry into other countries as well. And so even though we want to focus on America today, I just want to ask you, could you talk maybe just a little bit about how your work has gone international and how that shapes your perspective on seeing the spiritual needs in our own country at the same time that you’re getting opportunities to go to other countries?

Dave Kistler:

Well, I thank you, Isaac. Yeah. A number of years ago, we started traveling internationally and over the last 41 years, we have been in England, France, Belgium, Scotland, Wells, Canada, Mexico, West Indies, Israel, Africa, South Korea. And this summer at 66 years of age, I thought my life would slow down a little bit. It’s not only not done that, it’s gone up a number of levels, but we’re going to be out of the United States more this year than we have in any year in our 41 years of ministry. We’re going to be in England. We’re going to be going from there directly to Romania. And those meetings are going to be with young people. It’s going to be college and young adults, a conference in England, a conference following up right after that in Romania. From there, we’re going to go into Spain. A little bit later, a few weeks after that, we’re going to be in Guatemala conducting a pastor’s conference there, assisting with that, helping with that with about 250 pastors and their wives.

And I will say this, Isaac, I love traveling around the globe. And every place I go, I’m reticent to want to come home because you fall in love with the people and you just love ministering there, seeing people saved, seeing lives strengthen. But what it does, it also makes me appreciate the goodness of God on the United States of America. And when my plane touches down in Charlotte, and I’ve said it many, many times, if I didn’t have to walk through that tube, you know that bumps up against the plane, you go from the tube into the terminal. If I could go down a set of steps and get to the tarmac, I literally would take my lips and kiss American soil. I’m so glad to be home. I love my country. There’s tremendous spiritual needs in America right now. And watching how God is working in other countries, sometimes it eclipses at times what God is doing here in America.

However, having said that right now, and I know we’re going to talk about this in the latter part of the program, but what’s happening right now in America, especially among the young people, to me, is one of the most amazing things I’ve seen in 41 years of ministry. And it is beyond exciting what God is doing. And so it’s just been a delight and honor these years to travel internationally and nationally preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Isaac Crockett:

We just have a moment before we go to break, Dave, but I love the excitement that you have because so many times we look around us and we see the darkness, but we forget that Jesus is the light of the world and we’ve been called to walk as children of light to be that light. Could you just, as we go into this break, just briefly in this moment, just talk about why you’re excited about what God is doing.

Dave Kistler:

Well, I’ll tell you, Isaac, somebody said it to me again, let’s don’t condemn the darkness, let’s light a candle. And rather than running up on the inside of our castle and getting up on the top of the walls and condemning the darkness that the world has become, what we need to do is we need to let our drawbridge down. We need to go from our castle into the world in it, but not of it, and carry the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if recent days, within the last nine months, Isaac, we’ve seen hundreds, hundreds of people come to know Christ as Savior, many of them, young people, some of that coming on the heels of the Charlie Kirk assassination. But I’m telling you, if you’re not excited about what God’s doing right now, then something’s wrong because God is at work. Amidst the darkness, amidst the deception, God is still communicating and shining bright light of his gospel and communicating his truth.

And it’s just, this is our moment. And I don’t need other way to say it. This is our moment. This is our time, the time for which I was both born and born again. And I believe that for every person who knows Christ

Isaac Crockett:

The savior. Amen. And for everyone listening today, we’re going to come back. We’re going to talk about the Bible, how it does not return void. How do we use it in these days? And there’s a Bible reading marathon we want to talk about. We want to talk about revival. A lot. A lot to talk about with evangelists, Dr. Dave Kistler. Welcome back to our Friday edition of Stand in the Gap Today. We’re talking with one of the folks who’s usually asking the questions, but Dr. Dave Kistler, evangelist, Dave Kistler, one of our co-hosts actually talking to him today about some of the things going on in his ministry. Dave, I love the excitement even in your voice and the examples that you were giving just in our first segment. What you’re talking about kind of reminds me, there’s kind of two different people. You have the pessimistic person who always looks at what’s going wrong and the optimistic person who says, look at the opportunities here.

And there’s the old story of a long time ago, two shoe salesmen from different companies were sent on a boat to a remote island and they both got there. And the first shoe salesman wrote back, he said, terrible news, coming home immediately, no one here even wears shoes. And the second man sent a letter back. He said, “Glorious news, send every single pair of shoes you have. No one here wears shoes. I can sell to everybody.” And I think the same thing happens in our Christian circles, if we’re not careful. As we see darkness in our nation or as we see a distance between where we were and where we are now with our biblical worldview, sometimes we get discouraged and think kind of this Elijah syndrome, nobody else is doing this, but it’s exciting because we realize that there is a real need for the gospel and that the darker that things around us get, the brighter the light shows in it.

And so Dave, I love some of the things you were talking about already, but I want to talk to you about something. And I think you mentioned this last month when you were on this radio program, but you are involved with the US Capitol Bible Reading Marathon and it’s coming right up just a few weeks away. Can you tell us about it again? And I know that we’ve highlighted this over the years and there’s other ones besides Washington DC, but can you tell us when it will take place and some of the other information like how long there’s continuous Bible reading and who’s participating. Some of those things that I know you’ve shared before, but just to let us know about this again.

Dave Kistler:

Thank you, Isaac. Delighted to do that. It’s called the US Capitol Bible Reading Marathon. It’s going to take place this year from April 25 to April 29. April 25th is a Saturday. It’s going to start around noon with an opening ceremony. And then as soon as that opening ceremony concludes, the first chapter of the book of Genesis is starting to be read and there will be Bible reading nonstop. Day, night, rain shine. It makes no difference. The scripture is read nonstop from between 72 to 90 hours, depending on how fast folks read or what speed at which they read. It can take as much as 90 hours. Typically, it takes less than that, closer to the 72, but the days that are set aside are April 25 to 29, the 29th being a Wednesday, and then there’s a closing ceremony there about 10 o’clock to noon, somewhere in that timeframe.

But if folks would like to be a part of that, they can go to Capital, and it’s capital with an O, C-A-P-I-T-O-L, capital B-R-M, and B-R-M stands for Bible Reading Marathon, just capitalbrm.org. You can navigate through that website. You can sign up and come and read for 15 minutes. If you want to sign up for multiple 15 minute increments, you can do that. But there will be Isaac probably between four and 500 people from around the United States and sometimes from around the world that will fly in, drive in and be a part of this Bob Reading Marathon. The ministry that heads it up is called Seedline International. Dr. Keith Davidson, dear friend of mine, dear friend of ours. We’ve known each other for well over 20 years, partnered together in all kinds of ministry on Capitol Hill. They do a phenomenal job running the Bible reading marathon, and it’s been my delight and honor to be a part of it now for a good number of years, but it’s going to take place on the West Plaza steps of the United States Capitol, the very spot or in proximity to the very spot where every president has been inaugurated since the days of Dwight v.

Eisenhower and the scripture is read out loud and it is amazing how many people walk through that area, inquire, “Man, what are you doing?” Well, we’re reading the Bible and they’ll ask, “Well, hey, can I read? I’ve never done that. I’d like to. ” One year, Isaac, we had three Tibetan monks walk through and they wanted to read. And of course, we allowed them to read. Ironically, they were reading through the Book of Romans, that gospel section around Romans three, Romans five, Romans six, Romans 10, they were reading in that very gospel centric area and you can’t make that up. That was designed by God, but it’s a wonderful, wonderful opportunity for people to do something that really ought to be a bucket list item, and that’s to come read the scriptures from the steps of the United States Capitol.

Isaac Crockett:

I know there are other Bible reading marathons and places and other states have it on their capitals, but just a couple of weeks ago, I took my family to Washington DC and walking around the Capitol building. Again, my wife and I have been there for the inauguration of President Trump before. And just what a powerful location strategically and just the iconic picture that that presents, but also strategically to the people that hear it, just again, very, very powerful. But let me ask you, you’ve mentioned too that this year there’s going to be kind of a prayer marathon as well that’s attached to this. It’s going to be a time of prayer that’s planned out for this. And then also a really special Bible distribution aspect that’s a part of this. Could you tell us a little bit about those portions that are going even beyond just the regular reading on the steps of the Capitol?

Dave Kistler:

Absolutely, Isaac. Thank you for the privilege to do that. We’re going to be presenting during that same timeframe, April 25 to 29, we’re going to be presenting our ministry. Hope Ministry is going to be presenting a Bible to every member of Congress. It’s called the First American Bible. It was actually a Bible commissioned by Congress to be printed in 1782. It’s the only time the US Congress has ever commissioned the printing of a Bible, but they did that in 1782. The Bible we’re going to present is an exact facsimile copy, an exact replica of the Bible that was printed in 1782. And so we’re going to be presenting it that week of the Bible reading marathon. But a few days prior to that, from April seven to April 17, about a week before we go for the Bible reading marathon and to present these Bibles to every member of Congress, we’re going to conduct a 10 day prayer meeting from April seven to April 17.

And we’re taking basically the admonition in Psalm 55:17 where David said, “Evening, morning, and at noon, I will pray and cry aloud and he shall hear my voice.” And so what we’re encouraging people to do, even right now, you can be a part of this. If you’re listening, you can just make a commitment personally. You don’t even have to necessarily let me know that you’re doing this unless you want to do that, which would be fine, but you can just make a commitment that it’s 6:00 AM or as close to it as you can, noon, and then at 6:00 PM or as close to that timeframe as you can, that you will commit to pray three times a day and pray for the distribution of the Bibles, pray for the success of the Bible reading marathon, and then pray for a third thing, which is really the answer to America’s ills, and that is revival in America, a third great awakening.

And Isaac, if I might say this, I think you had on recently a young man or one of the leaders of Sight and Sound that has produced this wonderful movie that is going to be released nationwide on April the 3rd. It’s called A Great Awakening. You think of the timing of this. I did not even know that movie had been produced until last week, and we had already planned our prayer time. So there’s going to be a movie on the first great awakening, the relationship between Ben Franklin and the great preacher of the first great awakening, George Whitfield, that’s releasing on April 3rd, four days later from April seven, April 17, we’re having this prayer marathon for revival, for the Bible distribution, for the Bible reading marathon on Capitol Hill, and then coming up end of April the 25th through the 29th, then we’re going to be distributing the Bibles and doing the Bible reading on the West Plaza steps of the Capitol.

You cannot convince me that that’s coincidental. It’s not. It’s God directed, and I believe it’s God’s mercy and grace being extended to our nation one more time.

Isaac Crockett:

The way you’re pointing that out, it’s such a good reminder. God’s never caught off guard. There are no accidents with him. Joshua Inc from Sight and Sound who wrote and is producing that film, he was originally wanting to do one on George Washington and he felt the Lord urging him that he had his Georges wrong and that he needed to focus on George Whitfield and the relationship he had with Benjamin Franklin. And the very fact that you are passing out the same copy of the Bible that was used in those days by Congress, just so many reminders of God’s grace on our country and a time for us to beg God for grace again and for salvation amongst all that we know. Just maybe speak a little bit more to the imagery there on the steps of the Capitol building and the messaging that it sends to our national leaders and to all of our nation when there are people there on the Capitol Hill, on the steps, reading God’s word day and night like this, and then the prayer leading up to it, the Bible’s being handed out.

Just what kind of message is that sending here on our 250th anniversary?

Dave Kistler:

Well, I think Isaac, it’s an acknowledgement that the Bible was a part of this country from its very inception. If you think about it, we declared independence from great written in 1776. We did not have a fully ratified constitution by all the 13 states until 1789 right in the middle between those two founding documents, the declaration in 1776, the constitution fully ratified 1789, right in the middle between those two in 1782 is the third founding document of our country, and that’s the Bible. And it was commissioned by Congress to be printed, a resolution accompanied the commissioning of the scripture that was printed in 1782. And that was a recommendation by Congress that the whole or the entirety of the American people actually read the Bible. Now you think about that. So doing this there on the West Plaza steps of the Capitol is an acknowledgement that God, we needed you in the founding of this country.

We need you desperately again. And Isaac, I will tell you this, I had an actual member of the US Capitol Police tell me, we love it when you guys come here to read the Bible because he said a lot of the Capitol police will schedule their vacation time the week you’re here because the crime rate drops precipitously, his words, not mine, the crime rate around the Capitol and in the district drops precipitously the week you’re here reading the Bible. That is not an accident. There’s a purifying purging effect the word of God has. And when it’s read publicly, it has that desired effect powerfully in our nation’s capital or anywhere.

Isaac Crockett:

And if you can make it there to the steps to read the scriptures, that would be quite an honor to get to do. But even where you are praying three times a day, morning, noon, and evening for this event, so much to go on. We want to take a quick break to hear from some of our partners and want to come back and talk to Dave some more about what’s going on and the reactions that people are having when the word of God is presented powerfully, the powerful reactions that come as a result when we come back.

Well, welcome back to the program. I’m Pastor Isaac Crockett, and I’m talking with someone who you’re used to him asking the questions, but we’ve got him in the hot seat today. That’s evangelist Dave Kistler. And Dave, I’ve really enjoyed the topics that we’ve gotten into. And I love how you framed our founding documents as in between our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution was the first American Bible, that Congress commissioned it and things. And that’s the same exact copy of that Bible that you’ll be handing out to members of Congress during this Bible reading marathon, just exciting times and so much happening. Before I go into helping you with more questions, I want to go to our program producer, Tim Schneider. Tim, could you give us some updates on things going on at our ministry here at Standing the Gap Media as well as the American Pastors Network?

Tim Schneider:

Sure. I can, Isaac. Good afternoon to everybody. Thank you for tuning in. Hopefully you’re having a great Friday afternoon or whatever day or time you are listening to this. Want to ask you a question Isaac’s asking Dave questions. I’ll ask our audience a question. Do you ever find yourself too busy to listen to the whole Stand in the Gap show? Well, did you know that we have shorter audio segments of somewhere between two and 11 minutes covering various topics discussed on our Stand and the Gap Today radio show? We call these podcast Q&As and these are podcasts, shortened podcasts that are good for listeners who desire to hear a shorter segment on a certain topic. Many different topics we cover, finances, current events, cultural issues, the constitution, biblical worldview, et cetera. We have somewhere, I think, over 3,000 podcast Q&As that I helped create since I’ve been working here.

And so it’s definitely a great resource to have and one that I encourage you to check out. If you like what you hear through some of the podcast Q&As, you can go and find the whole show in our archives. Check out our podcast Q&As on our app and at our website, stand-ingapmedia.org. Also, we are on a lot of the great streaming platforms. If you listen to a podcast through one of these many streaming platforms, it’s likely that we’re there. You can subscribe to our podcast through Apple Podcasts, tune in, Spotify, iHeartRadio, a lot of the major ones, mostly any major podcasting platform. You can find us to hear truth every day. Sign up to get our podcast downloaded to your smart device every time a new podcast is released. And additionally, if you’re a subscriber to one of our podcasts through one of these platforms, please make sure you leave us with a rating.

Ratings will allow other like- minded individuals to find us as a searcher podcast and thank you in advance. I also want to quickly encourage you to check out our websites. We have two of them, Americanpastorsnetwork.net and standintogapedia.org. If you go to standingapmedia.org, you can see a lot of our archives of the TV and radio programs. Most all of them that we’ve done since we’ve been originated and been founded, you can find there on standintogapmedia.org and also lots of other things there media-wise. Also, Americanpastorsnetwork.net, you can find resources there. One of the things you can sign up for is our e-newsletter. We won’t inundate your inbox with spam, but we’ll send you information whenever it comes out that you can find useful regarding the American Pastors Network and Stand in the Gap Media. So those are some things I’ve got here, Isaac, and I’m going to go ahead and send it on back to you.

Isaac Crockett:

And I’m going to answer the question you ask, Tim. A lot of times I do find myself not having enough time to listen to the whole program. And I like to be able to go and find those podcast Q&As of programs so that I can just listen to it real quickly. The other thing I like is the transcripts that we have. I think they might be AI generated most of the time, but transcripts of the different broadcasts and things is another helpful way of being able to see some of the content that I’m looking for or share some of that content with others. So thank you for the many hats you wear and the many things you are doing behind the scenes. And I hope that everyone listening will use these free resources as much as they can. Dave, you often text a number of different preachers and pastor friends and things and you give all kinds of neat updates.

And so I find it so exciting to see what God is doing in your ministry and in the ministry of many other churches that you’re rubbing shoulders with. Could you maybe tell us a little bit about that, of what you’ve been seeing? And again, I know it’s almost a daily basis that you have this, but maybe a story or two or testimonies of what you’ve seen recently that you could share with us.

Dave Kistler:

I think thank you again. And again, it’s an honor to be on and I appreciate Tim so much. Tim covers so many bases and Tim, you’re greatly appreciated at standing the gap and I’m sure by our listening audience as well. But yeah, Isaac, as I travel across the nation, again, I want to kind of back up and reiterate what I said earlier. The last eight to nine months has been astounding in the number of people that have come to know Christ as Savior. And what’s also astounding is the number of young people that are coming to know the Lord just in our ministry, but also other ministries, literally around the length and breadth of our country. A couple of weeks back, in fact, it would have been in January right after the start of this year. I was in a church here in North Carolina and one night, three young men, first time they’d ever been in that church, not sure how much of a church background they had, if any, but they came and those three young men trusted Christ a savior.

They were back the next night and the church had given them a new Bible, beautiful leather Bible. All three of the young men came up and said, “Brother Kisser, would you just put your name and maybe your favorite verse of scripture in the front of our Bible, which I was glad to do. ” Those guys, very athletic guys, all of them from public school, but just outstanding young men, you could see by looking at them, great potential, but I heard from them here just a few weeks ago and they said, “Mr. Kisser, we’re going to do something in August to try to reach our public school friends with the gospel so that they can know Christ like we now know him.” And one of them reached out to me and said, “Would you be available in August to come to this thing that we’re wanting to do and preach to our public school friends?” And I said, “Count me in.

And count me and I would love to do that. ” That is emblematic and symptomatic, Isaac, of what God is doing across the United States among so many young people. And it’s every week something like that is happening last night before I left the service where I was preaching just a little bit south of Lexington, North Carolina. Some young people came up to me and again said, “Would you sign our Bibles, which I was more than honored to do. ” And they were sharing with me what God had been doing in their hearts and in their lives. And so there’s this groundswell among the young people, not limited to them, by the way, but there’s just this groundswell among young people that is beyond refreshing to see. And again, I just want to say it, I think this is our moment that God’s graciously giving us.

Man, we don’t want to miss it. We certainly don’t want to squander it. We want to seize it and allow God to use us to fan the flame of what he’s doing across our

Isaac Crockett:

Country. That is an exciting opportunity to fan that flame of the word of God. And I think of D.L. Moody, I think he said something, I had two and a half converts last night or something and someone said, “Oh, you had two adults saved and one child,” thinking the child was the half. He said, “No, I had two children saved and one adult who’s already lived at least half of his life.” And so when people come to the Lord when they’re younger, they have more of their life to give the Lord and to live for him. And for those of you listening, if you’re not younger, but you see people maybe in your community or in your church who have come to know Christ, what are you doing to pray for them, to invest in them, to mentor them, to help them? And the way, Dave, that you’re talking about doing that and looking at ways that you can help these young men who are wanting to reach their friends in August, those are exciting kind of challenges to say, “Hey, let’s help them.

Let’s see what they have and let’s join them now that they’ve come to know Christ.” But I want to ask you, and trying to judge how much time we have here, but maybe you could talk to us a little bit as an evangelist that’s traveling around with your kind of putting your finger on the pulse of a lot of different things, what are you seeing? I’d kind of like to get both the good, the bad, the ugly as the old Western title is. What are some of the greatest challenges that you’re facing in 2026, but then what are also, and you’ve already been sharing some of this, but what are some of the greatest encouragements that you’re seeing in these days?

Dave Kistler:

Well, I think I’ll try to be very brief. Greatest challenge, I think personally right now for me, the thing that, I don’t want to say frustrating, although I guess maybe that would be an appropriate word, is the doubt that I see. If I could use this illustration, one of the last really great revivals that not only shaped and influenced the principality in which the revival occurred, but it also spilled over from that immediate area and impacted the world was the Welsh revival of 1904. And one of the greatest preachers of that time, a man that really is a hero of mine, G. Campbell Morgan, who pastored Westminster Chapel in London in 1904, he left his church, went to Wales just to personally witness the revival because he had heard both. It is a genuine revival of God. Others said, “No, it’s not real. It’s not.

” He said, “Well, I want to go and see for myself.” Well, he went, came back to his church, Westminster Chapel, and gave a report and said, “Look, my experience, this revival is as real and genuine as it can be. ” And he tried to dispel some of the doubt and tried to, I guess, silence some of the naysayers. What I would say is this, I hear so much about people questioning whether we can have revival. I believe we can. And Isaac, I would say this, if I didn’t believe we could, if I didn’t believe revival was possible, probable, but more important, I believe revival’s promised, sacred Chronicles 7:14, if we’ll meet the conditions, revival is promised. If I didn’t believe that, I’d be doing something else, but I Believe it is not just possible probable. I believe it is promised. And we’re seeing God move across the country, even in the midst of the darkness and the deception.

So one of the greatest challenges I think is the doubt. The greatest encouragement without a doubt is what God is doing among the younger generation. This past year on division one college campuses, there has been revivals on some of these college football teams, on some of the college campuses. Pastors, youth directors have been working in concert together, trying to get the gospel to these young people. There’s been baptisms of hundreds of young people that have come into Christ. And one of my friends just recently was preaching on a campus in Texas and saw 80 young people come to know the Lord as Savior. I’m telling you, it’s beyond encouraging. Well,

Isaac Crockett:

What an opportunity to be alive. What an opportunity for the church. You’ve already talked about prayer and Bible reading, but just in the few seconds before we go to our next break, how can we be praying and praying for your ministry and praying for what the Lord is doing?

Dave Kistler:

Well, if you could pray for wisdom, I need wisdom. There’s so many open doors that I really need wisdom to know what to say yes to, what to say no to. And then certainly we need God’s power. We need Holy Spirit unction and Holy Spirit power on all that we do. So wisdom and power, those are the two biggest prayer requests I could

Isaac Crockett:

Give. All right. Well, amen to that. Let’s be praying that way for wisdom and power for Dr. Kistler, but for all of us. And pray for us here at the American Pastors Network for that as well and for you and your local church. We’re going to take our final break and come back. And I wanted to wrap up by looking at some of the parallels with where we are today and where America was when the first great awakening happened. So a lot of interesting questions for Dr. Kistler when we come back on Stand in the Gap today. Well, thanks for listening today. I’m Pastor Isaac Crockett, and it’s my privilege and honor to get to be talking with one of my coworkers, one of my co-host evangelists, Dave Kistler. And Dave, as we’ve been talking about the Bible reading marathon that you’re involved with and the Bibles that you’re handing out to members of Congress that remind them that the Bible was part of the beginning of our nation, our 250 year history.

You mentioned this exciting film that’s coming out by Godly people at sight and sound films. And it’s about a great awakening and it focuses in on kind of two unlikely people who had a much closer relationship than some of us have been taught about. And that’s the evangelist George Whitfield and the American civil leader, technology guy, inventor, Benjamin Franklin. And sometimes we don’t think of those two going together, but you brought this up already in the program and it’s been really a powerful story that’s being told. And it’s true, true facts that are being told in this film. And again, for such a time as this, that it came out. I mean, it takes at least three years to put these films together. They’ve just started doing this during COVID at Sight and Sound. And it is all these little things that had to happen and big things that had to happen that God just worked it out miraculously for such a time as this.

But Dave, do you see any parallels between what you were just describing and what’s going on right now in 2026 with … We have national divisions, there’s moral drift, there’s secular pressures on pretty much every institution in our nation. And some of those things, same things we were facing early on in the 1730s and 1740s, our pilgrim forefathers and Puritans and things had tried to start something here, but already by the 1730s and 40s, we were going in the same direction and it led then to a great awakening when scripture was given. Are there any parallels that you are picking up on between 250 years ago or more and what we are facing and the way the Lord is working even now?

Dave Kistler:

Isaac, I believe there are. And I hope people were listening to what you said. The first great awakening occurred in the 1730s into the 1740s. We did not become a nation till 1776. So really the American Revolution or the War for Independence, however you want to describe it, was the byproduct. It was the result of the first great awakening. There would be no United States of America had there not been a first great awakening. And yes, what was going on back then in the 1730s, 1740s, if you know anything about Whitfield, if you know anything about Jonathan Edwards, whose sermon sinners in the hands of an angry God was one of the most powerful sermons ever preached on American soil. The revival had already started or the awakening was already underway when Edwards preached that sermon. But yet if you listen to the description of the times that were those days, they were very much parallel to today.

There was lots of public drunkenness. There was, as you said, moral drift, there was immorality, it was rampant among the young people, and yet into the midst of that came this great awakening where God chose to bestow it upon the United States of America. And Isaac, I will say this. When I was a much younger man, just starting in the ministry, I went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania because I’d read Arnold Dallamore’s two volume work on the life of George Whitfield. It’s 600 pages each volume. That sounds daunting for most people to read, but it’s some of the most easy reading that you’ll ever read. It was just powerful, fascinating. And I wanted to stand on the corner of 6th and Market Street where Whitfield preached his famous sermon and Ben Franklin was in the audience. And Ben Franklin with his mechanical mind began to assess about two square feet per person trying to figure out how many are listening to the powerful voice of George Whitfield without any amplification.

And Ben Franklin estimated 20,000 people were listening that night. That friendship between Franklin and Whitfield continued to develop. And I would say this, that same kind of thing can and should occur today. We don’t need to cultivate an adversarial attitude toward those in civil places of civil government. We need to love them and we need to reach out to them like Whitfield did with Franklin and even cultivate that kind of friendship in order to be able to share with them the gospel of Jesus Christ. A lot more I could say, Isaac, but the parallels between the days of the first great awakening in the late 1730s, early 1740s, and today, I think the parallels are absolutely stunning.

Isaac Crockett:

I’ve been reading those volumes. I’ve had a copy of that two volume set biography of 12, 1300 page set, and I have never read it all the way through like you have, but I’ve been reading parts of it and I’ve been reading some of Whitfield’s sermons and it’s just so moving and it is so exciting to see that. And I couldn’t help but think of you last week when I was talking with Joshua Ink from Sight and Sound Films about this relationship between Franklin and Whitfield. And I was thinking of what you do on Capitol Hill and as an evangelist being so invested in reaching out to civil leaders. My dad, he had a desire to reach out to civil leaders as well as a pastor and just such an important thing for us to be praying about and looking to cultivate those opportunities. We have just a little bit of time left in our program, so I’m going to ask you a huge question that you don’t have enough time to answer, but maybe you could give us a short version.

As you look at America today, what do you think it would take to have another great awakening today?

Dave Kistler:

Well, I’m going to follow the Hebrews 11: six. The scripture says, “Faith is absolutely essential.” We have to believe that God can and will, if we’ll meet the condition, send another great revival. Without faith, it’s impossible. It’s not difficult to please God without faith. It’s impossible to please him without faith. And then two Chronicles 7:14, in addition to believing that God can and will do this, humility, repentance, genuine desperation in prayer that God would once again rent the heavens, come down, shake the mountains with his mighty presence. I’m convinced, Isaac, if we meet those things, a belief, humility, repentance, and desperation in prayer before his very throne room, I believe God will bring not just mercy drops of revival, but I believe he’ll bring a driving rainstorm of revival in our day and time.

Isaac Crockett:

Well, Dave, we’re almost out of time. I want to give you time to close in prayer, but any final thoughts from you? And then if you would close this program in prayer as we finish this exciting talk that we’ve had today.

Dave Kistler:

Well, Isaac, I want to say thank you to you. And again, thank you to Tim. Thank you to Sam for all that you guys do with American Pastors Network and with the program. It’s global and its impact and you’re laying up great treasure in heaven. I’m incredibly grateful for all of you. Let’s pray. Father, thank you for gracing us with the privilege to live at this strategic time in world history. Thank you, Lord, that though we will surely be the generation that sees your return, yet Lord, we pray that you’d grant us a little space that one final time before you come back, we might see a revival, a great awakening, a third one in our day. And Father, may your people, the church, understand what is required. And Father, may we rise up, meet those requirements, believing you can and will do it. And in humility, repentance, faith, call out to you for that revival that will be the answer to America’s ills.

And Father will thank you and praise you for what you do in the mighty or powerful name of Jesus. I do pray. Amen.

Isaac Crockett:

Amen. And if you’re listening today and you are a believer, you know Jesus Christ as Savior, this is the time to stand up with your faith, to be counted as children of light, walking in these days of darkness, walking circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because these days are evil. And Dave, if you could remind us again, the Bible reading marathon, I believe it’s capital BRM is it. Com or. Org. If you could give us that website and remind folks how they could be praying for this ministry that is about to be happening.

Dave Kistler:

Yes, please be praying. It’s April 25 to 29. And if you’d like to sign up and come and read for 15 minutes or longer, the website address is capital with an O, C-A-P-I-T-O-L, capital B-R-M, as in Bible reading marathon, capital brm.org.

Isaac Crockett:

All right, capital brm.org. Well, Dave, thanks so much for what you’re doing and for all the encouragement that you’ve been to us today and for letting us know these things that are going on. We’ll be praying for you and for the Bible reading marathon. And thank you for listening. Those of you who are listening, that’s what keeps us going. Please continue to pray for us, pray for what God is doing in the lives of those who listen and all over America and the globe. And until next time, I pray that you will stand in the gap for truth wherever you are today.